In present day business telecommunications systems, also referred to as PBXs, a caller placing an unanswered call is notified that the call is going to call coverage. However, the caller is given no immediate control over which call coverage system the call will be transferred. In many systems, if a voice mail system is attached to the business telecommunication system, the caller is transferred to the voice mail system, and the voice mail system informs the caller that the caller can leave a voice mail message or be transferred to a secretary. Certain PBXs also display on an alphanumeric display when a call is going to coverage but give no control over which coverage system will be used.
The problem with the prior art call coverage methods is the amount of time required to transfer a call to the voice mail message system, to receive an audio message from the voice mail system describing the available call coverage options, to select the desired call coverage option, and to wait for the voice mail system to make the transfer to the selected call coverage option. More importantly, this method will become more lengthy as other call coverage services are added in addition to a secretary and voice mail system. On many occasions, the caller does not want to talk to the called party but rather wants only to leave a message for the called party either on the voice mail system or with a secretary. This situation often occurs when the calling party is communicating a small amount of information and does not wish to become engaged in a long drawn-out conversation with the called party.